On April 1, the Beijing Municipal Regulations on Self-driving Vehicles (hereinafter referred to as the Regulations) was officially implemented. The Regulations clearly encourage and support the technological innovation and industrial development of autonomous driving vehicles, which not only provides a regulatory basis for the legal entry of higher-level autonomous driving vehicles, but also promotes the commercialization of autonomous driving technology, infrastructure construction, data security management and other aspects.

　　"Car Driving Automation Classification" shows that driving automation is divided from L0 to L5 according to level 6: Level L0 is driver driving, Level L1 and L2 are dominated by human drivers and assisted by the system; starting from Level L3, vehicle control is gradually handed over to the autonomous driving system, Level L3 is conditional autonomous driving, Level L4 is highly autonomous driving, and Level L5 is fully autonomous driving. The autonomous driving car referred to in the "Regulations" refers to cars that can be operated by an autonomous driving system to safely drive on the road, including cars that have the functions of autonomous driving, highly autonomous driving, and fully autonomous driving according to national standards, namely, autonomous driving at level L3 and above.

　　The basic idea of ​​the Regulations is to establish a standardized autonomous driving vehicle management system to ensure an organic balance between the implementation and application of autonomous driving technology and safety guarantees, and to promote the orderly and stable development of autonomous driving vehicle technology innovation and on-road traffic activities. The Regulations establish an inclusive and prudent supervision concept, and build a regulatory mechanism that protects safety and promotes industrial development step by step, ensuring that autonomous vehicles can minimize potential risks while technological innovation and pilot applications.

　　Establish and further improve the cross-departmental coordination and standardized management system

　　The Regulations provide a clear legal framework for the technological innovation, testing, operation and promotion of autonomous vehicles through clear division of management responsibilities and systematic process design. According to Article 4 of the Regulations, the Beijing Municipal Government and relevant departments need to establish a joint working mechanism, clarify the responsibilities of each department, and strengthen cross-departmental cooperation. The establishment of this mechanism is aimed at avoiding functional overlap or management gaps, ensuring the effective implementation of various regulatory measures, and promoting the integration and coordinated operation of policy resources. By strengthening top-level design and organizational leadership, Beijing can lay a solid policy foundation for the innovation and application of autonomous driving technology and promote the long-term development of technology.

　　In addition, Chapter 4 of the Regulations proposes a complete institutional design in terms of road traffic management, which runs through the entire process management from technical verification, scenario application to actual operation, and reflects the supervision concept of inclusive, prudent and standardized management. This chapter clearly stipulates the gradual advancement path for autonomous vehicles from road testing to demonstration applications to pilot applications, ensuring the safety and controllability of technical applications. Articles 23 to 27 of the Regulations provide detailed provisions on innovative application scenarios and phased approval processes for testing and application activities of autonomous vehicles, ensuring the scientific advancement of autonomous driving technology in different application scenarios. Especially in Article 24, the Regulations require that when enterprises apply for road testing activities, they must strictly follow the procedures such as application, demonstration, and regional confirmation, and obtain temporary driving license plates in accordance with the law under the approval of the traffic management department of the public security organ. Through this layer of approval and strict supervision, the Regulations effectively avoid the risk of autonomous driving technology rashly pushing it to the market when the technology is not yet mature, ensure the gradual verification and standardized development of technology, provide multi-dimensional legal guarantees for the practical application of autonomous driving technology, and ensure that enterprises always abide by safety regulations and assume corresponding responsibilities in the process of promoting the commercialization of technology.

　　Strengthen security in multiple dimensions

　　The Regulations clarify the safety function requirements for autonomous vehicle products. Article 35 stipulates that autonomous vehicle manufacturers must have the following capabilities: functional safety guarantee, expected functional safety guarantee, network security guarantee, data security guarantee, software upgrade management, and risk and emergencies management. Enterprises also need to strengthen product testing and safety assessment, establish user notification mechanisms, and bear the main responsibility for product quality and production consistency.

　　In terms of operational safety, Article 36 emphasizes that the main body of road application pilot projects must fulfill the main responsibility of production safety in accordance with the law, establish and improve the operational safety management system, and equip the operation safety monitoring platform of autonomous vehicles to realize real-time dynamic monitoring of the operational conditions of vehicles, personnel, networks, etc., and at the same time strengthen the daily maintenance and inspection of operating vehicles to ensure the compliance of vehicle safety and operational safety management requirements.

　　In terms of network security and data security, Article 38 requires relevant enterprises to strictly abide by the network security level protection system, establish and improve network security risk control mechanisms, and formulate emergency plans to deal with potential cyber attacks. Article 39 clearly states that enterprises should establish a complete data security management system and fulfill data security protection obligations, including: collecting data related to vehicle driving and traffic safety, evaluating data security risks, implementing classified and graded protection of data, complying with personal information protection laws and regulations, conducting risk assessment of important data and submitting assessment reports to the municipal Internet Information Department and other relevant departments, and providing vehicle owners and managers with ways to query vehicle operation data.

　　Article 42 of the Regulations also particularly emphasizes the importance of insurance services in the field of autonomous vehicles. This clause requires that all entities carrying out road tests, demonstration applications, and road application pilot activities should purchase compulsory motor vehicle traffic accident liability insurance, carrier liability insurance and other supplementary commercial insurance in accordance with relevant regulations of the country and the city to ensure sufficient economic protection in the event of an accident. In addition, the Regulations encourage insurance institutions to independently develop or cooperate with relevant companies to develop insurance products that adapt to the characteristics of autonomous driving cars based on the uniqueness of autonomous driving cars, and provide comprehensive insurance services to autonomous driving car-related companies and consumers. This regulation not only provides additional risk protection for the operation of autonomous vehicles, but also promotes innovation and development in the insurance industry and meets the needs of emerging technology fields.

　　In terms of emergency response, Article 40 requires the municipal economy and information technology, public security, transportation, Internet information, government affairs and data, emergency departments to strengthen the response to risks and emergencies of autonomous vehicles, formulate and improve emergency plans, and provide guidance and supervision of risks and emergencies of related enterprises to ensure that measures can be taken quickly and effectively in the event of emergencies.

　　Finally, Article 41 regulates the application of autonomous vehicles in surveying and mapping activities, requiring that corresponding surveying and mapping qualifications be obtained in accordance with the law or entrust qualified units to conduct surveying and mapping activities to ensure the security of geographical information data and prevent unauthorized geographic information data collection, storage, transmission and processing activities. These regulations jointly build a safety guarantee system for autonomous driving vehicles, aiming to ensure technological development and network data security, safeguard social public interests and citizens' rights and interests, and prevent the social risks that may be brought about by autonomous driving technology.

　　Standardization of traffic accident handling and emergency response

　　The Regulations make clear provisions on the handling of traffic accidents in autonomous vehicles, reflecting the importance of standardized management. Article 31 defines the handling method when an autonomous vehicle occurs: the traffic management department of the public security organ is responsible for investigation and handling, and the parties to the accident need to take safety measures and report it in a timely manner. For minor accidents and the parties are not disputed, self-negotiation is allowed to resolve them, which not only improves the efficiency of accident handling, but also strengthens the tracking and identification of accident liability. At the same time, Article 32 emphasizes that autonomous vehicle companies must actively cooperate with the investigation of the traffic management department of the public security organs and submit accident process information or accident analysis reports in accordance with regulations to ensure the fairness and accuracy of responsibility determination. Article 33 stipulates emergency measures for drivers or safety officers in emergencies, requiring drivers or safety officers to take emergency measures such as manual takeover when the vehicle fails or drives out of the allowed area to reduce the risk of accidents. The above provisions jointly build a clear responsibility system, which can quickly determine and properly handle responsibilities after an accident, thus maintaining social fairness and legal order and protecting public interests.

　　The Regulations provide solid institutional guarantees for the development of autonomous vehicles through meticulous standardized management and prudent legislative design. While promoting technological innovation and application, the Regulations have built a solid safety bottom line from multiple dimensions such as product safety, operation supervision, and network data protection, and also provided reference for legislation in other regions in the field of autonomous driving. With the implementation of the Regulations and the improvement of relevant supporting measures, autonomous vehicles will develop in an orderly and healthy manner within a safe and controllable legal and regulatory framework, and will become an important part of the construction of smart transportation and smart cities, and will promote the overall society to move towards a more efficient, safer and smarter transportation system.

　　(The author Xu Junqi is the executive director of ICMA Zhilian Travel Research Institute)

[Editor in charge: Zhu Jiaqi]